This invention concerns a launching sheet or rope for windsurfers.
Conventional windsurfers generally comprise a board and a sailing rig comprising a mast, a boom and a sail. The user stands on the board and controls the sailing rig by gripping the boom which is attached at its front end to the mast and by moving the boom to tilt the mast in the desired direction. Most windsurfers utilize a wishbone-shaped boom, but windsurfers are known which have a beam or holding rope instead of a wishbone-shaped boom. To bring the rig out of the water and into a sailing position, the user pulls on a launching sheet which is attached to the sailing rig.
Launching sheets for windsurfers used heretofore comprise a thick sheet which is attached to the front end of the wishbone-shaped boom and which extends approximately to the mast step.
The sheet hangs down freely or is held taut by means of an elastic sheet, which is knotted or spliced to the sheet in its lower third portion and which is connected to the mast step.
The known launching sheets have the great disadvantage that very great and sometimes even extreme force is necessary in order to pull the rig out of the water and to bring it into the sailing position. This difficulty of erecting the rig is not only a problem for beginners and less trained sportsmen but also for very proficient surfers, especially in the case of strong wind forces.